The Swedish Brothers: An Experiment in Immigrant Mutual Aid

THE SWEDISH BROTHERS: A N EXPERIMENT
IN IMMIGRANT MUTUAL AID
NILS WILLIAM OLSSON
The arrival in the new land was for the average immigrant
often a traumatic and confusing experience. Leaving his native
country, which he had seen probably for the last time, cut off
from all social intercourse with the institutions with which he
had grown up, and separated from all of the familiar experiences
by a vast ocean, he must often have reflected adversely on his
status as an immigrant, placed in a new and seemingly hostile
society. In those places in America where he discovered fellow
countrymen, he naturally felt less alone and thus tended to af­filiate
with churches, lodges, societies, and clubs made up of
fellow Swedes. Here he not only heard his native tongue but
he could also fraternize with people, some of whom came from
his home province and, if he were lucky, from his native parish.
These were the people to whom he could turn in times of ad­versity.
Though the Swedish immigrant church was a natural focal
point, where fellow immigrants gathered not only for spiritual
but also social reasons, the church was usually not able to lend
economic assistance to those hit by illness or death. In those
instances where the church could help, and often it did, it re­stricted
its meager resources to its own members. The immi­grants
who did not affiliate with a church had no place to go in
case of need. Thus mutual aid societies sprang up in almost all
Swedish communities throughout the land, beginning with the
earliest settlements. They usually followed a certain pattern. A
group of immigrants got together, decided upon forming an aid
society, set up a dues or fee structure, usually paid by the week,
and then paid out benefits for illness and in the case of death,
payments to the survivor or survivors for funeral expenses.
The earliest mutual benefit society to be organized by Swedish
immigrants, was the Swedish Society of New York ( D e n s v e n -
220
s k a Societén i N e w Y o r k ) , founded February 21, 1836. It is still
functioning as a benevolent society. It was formed by 22 Swedish
immigrants summoned to a meeting in New York by Wilhelm
Scherman, a draughtsman living in the metropolis. In an elo­quent
plea to the assembled Swedes contained in a document
still extant, he told the group of the real need in New York for
an organization among the Swedes to "strengthen the bonds of
friendship, help the new-comers, and aid the indigent."
There had been a real need for the formation of an aid so­ciety.
Just before Christmas in 1835, more precisely December
17, the city of New York had experienced a devastating fire
which had leveled more than 700 stores and countless homes.
Many of New York's Swedes had suffered heavy losses and some
were stranded without roofs over their heads. Thus the clarion
call went out to the many Swedish dwellers of the city to rally
around the good cause, to form a mutual aid society in order to
be prepared should disaster strike again.
During the many years that the Swedish Society has func­tioned
it has rendered aid and assistance to countless country­men.
The society has witnessed how the entire story of Swedish
immigration has unfolded—from the dribble in the 1830s, through
the 1880s, when tens of thousands of Swedes passed through New
York on their way west, to the post World War II period, when
few immigrants came and when Sweden itself had changed from
an emigrant to an immigrant country.1
Several of the Swedish mutual aid societies became national
in scope and some still exist as fraternal organizations, combin­ing
the insurance feature with a cultural program. The best
known are the Vasa Order of America and the International Or­der
of Svithiod, with chapters or lodges in all Swedish centers
in the United States and Canada. The Vasa Order of America
has even returned to Sweden, where two districts, each with
a number of lodges, are furthering the ties of friendship with
the United States.
In many places, however, the mutual aid societies were local
in character, serving the Swedish immigrants of one community.
"Gerhard T. Rooth, "The Swedish Society of New York Celebrates its
125th Anniversary," S w e d i s h P i o n e e r H i s t o r i c a l Q u a r t e r l y , XII (1961),
58-63.
221
Some of these are still functioning as fraternal groups but have
added a heavy emphasis on social activities. In Minneapolis two
of the oldest fraternal groups are still operating—the Norden
Society, established in 1870, has begun its second century of
service. The Norden Society began with a broader spectrum i n ­cluding
all of Scandinavian origin. The Gustavus II Adolphus
Society, founded in 1886 and Swedish in origin, is still going
strong and meets regularly on Friday nights in its own head­quarters
on Lake Street in south Minneapolis. Many of these
local groups, however, have disappeared as the immigration tide
ebbed out and no replacements arrived from Sweden to take
the places of those who died, dropped out, or disappeared.
One of the oldest and at one time the strongest of all the
Swedish societies in Minneapolis was The Swedish Brothers
( S v e n s k a Bröderna), which was organized November 26, 1876,
in the shop belonging to P. Osander, an early Minneapolis settler.
He and nine other men decided that S v e n s k a Bröderna would
become a mutual aid organization linking together the Swedes
of Minneapolis. Several of those present, however, withdrew
their support when they realized the work and sacrifice that
lay ahead, but five men decided to carry on—P. Osander, A . I.
Beckman, E . W. Erlandson, N . P. Liljengren and Fred Petterson.
The society rented a hall at the corner of Washington Avenue
and First Avenue South where they held their meetings for the
first three months, whereupon the society moved to Snider's
Block on Hennepin Avenue and then to Center Block on Nicol­let
Avenue. By 1877 the membership had risen to 25 and in
January of the following year, in 1878, the society was incor­porated
according to the laws of the State of Minnesota.
The early story of S v e n s k a Bröderna has been recorded for
posterity by Alfred Söderström, who in his history of Swedes
in Minneapolis has given us invaluable information, not only
about the society but about all facets of Swedish settlement and
activity in the city. Though the story only goes as far as 1899,
the year Söderström published his book, the account is of suf­ficient
interest to quote from i t : 2
2 Alfred Söderström, M i n n e a p o l i s m i n n e n . K u l t u r h i s t o r i s k a x p l o c k n i ng
från q v a r n s t a d e n v i d M i s s i s s i p p i (Minneapolis, 1899), 277-279.
222
After [the incorporation] the society held its meetings in
Center Block for a period of five years and then moved into
Vanstrum's Block on Hennepin Avenue and Bridge Square,
where the group stayed four years. During this time the idea
was born that the society attempt to procure its own quarters
and the result was that on August 3, 1886, it bought its pres­ent
headquarters, formerly the Chapel of the Mission Friends,
located at the corner of Fourth Street and Eighth Avenue
South, afterwards known as the Hall of the Swedish Broth­ers,
for a sum of $10,000. The down payment, which the
Society raised by donations and loans, was $1,000, but by
means of regular payments the last installment of $1,000 was
paid in August 1897. The society seems to have a bright future
with 300 members and money enough to meet its expenses,
even though the expenses for 1898 were in excess of $3,000.
The Swedish Brothers is the only Swedish society in Minne­apolis
which owns its own building, and which in addition
is free of debt.
The statutes of the society specify that a member must be
20 years old or older but cannot be more than 45 years of
age. The society is divided into three degrees. A brother
can, after having been a member of the first degree, become
a member of the second degree two weeks after having made
application. In order to belong to the third degree, he must
have been a member of the second degree at least two weeks.
Each member who fulfills his duties shall receive, in case
of illness or injury which prevents him from working, the
sum of $3 per week if a member of the first degree, $4 per
week if member of the second degree and $5 per week for
those in the third degree. Benefits are paid as long as the
illness persists, but the maximum benefit is $50 for the first
degree, $75 for the second degree, and $100 for the third de­gree
for one year. At time of death of a member funeral help
will be paid out to the survivors in the amount of $20 for those
in the first degree, $25 to those in the second degree, and $35
to those in the third degree. In case of death of the wife of
a member, $15 goes to the member in the first degree, $20 to
the second degree, and $25 to the third degree. Every member
shall after three months in the first degree be entitled to a
life insurance policy in the amount of $500. It is the duty of
every member to pay into the treasury the amount of $1.50
for the privilege of receiving this life insurance policy.
So far Söderström. We would probably not have known very
much more about S v e n s k a Bröderna, since it is one of the Swed-
223
ish groups in the Twin Cities area which has ceased to exist,
and its records were seemingly lost. But strange things happen.
A couple of years ago the American Swedish Institute was visited
by one of the last members of S v e n s k a Bröderna, who deposited
with the Institute the seal of the society, giving instructions how
members could pass the various degrees within the group. The
survivor of this venerable group was asked if other records ex­isted,
to which he answered in the negative, but six months later
he reappeared, carrying with him a volume which records the
membership roster of S v e n s k a Bröderna from the date of its
organization in 1876 to 1888. The book was a plain accounting
book, 12x71/2 inches, containing 106 pages. This book had been
found among some junk in the garage of the last recording
secretary.
The membership book is extremely valuable, for it gives us
a cross section of the membership during the first twelve years
of the society's existence. It records not only the names of all
members, but also their birth dates, the parishes in Sweden from
which they hailed, the administrative district (län), the year
and date of arrival in the United States, and the date of affilia­tion
with S v e n s k a Bröderna. In most instances the dwelling
place in Minneapolis is recorded and in a few instances the trade
of the member. Where the member was separated from the so­ciety,
the reason is given, if by death, voluntary resignation, or
expulsion for non-payment of dues.
The volume is written in Swedish, with two or three entries
on each page. The writing differs vastly as does the recording
secretary's knowledge of Swedish. One can readily understand,
in studying the record book, that the hand that held the pen
was more adept at handling the trowel or the augur. The only
English that appears is the recorded addresses. Here again
knowledge of the English language differs from hand to hand.
Certain words cause much difficulty for the scribe—thus Wash­ington
Avenue appears, as W a s h i n t o n , W a s e i n t o n , W a s i n t o n and
W a n s h i n g t o n . J e f f e r s o n appears as G e f e r s o n and R i v e r s i d e as
R e v e r s i d . The word "south" is the most troublesome and occurs
in the following forms—sot, s o u t , s o t h , sått, s a u t t , s o u t t , s u u t h,
såott, såutt, sátt and s o h t . From these phonetic spellings it might
224
be possible to trace the original dialect in Sweden of the par­ticular
scribe who recorded these words.
The record book contains a total of 288 names of persons who
joined the society from 1876 to 1888. Of these 284 were born in
Sweden, four in the United States (two in Minneapolis, one in
Chisago County and one in St. Peter, Minnesota). By the time
the volume ends in 1888 a total of 77 had left the society:
46 had been dropped for non-payment of dues; 27 entries are
just crossed out, perhaps indicating that these persons had left
Minneapolis without giving notice; three had died; and one had
left voluntarily by giving notice. Thus there were 211 mem­bers
active in S v e n s k a Bröderna as the 1880s drew to a close.
Söderström's figure of 300 members by 1899 seems therefore ac­curate,
considering that the 1890s were years of expansion for
almost all Swedish American organizations.
Five of the members were recorded at the first meeting, L u d ­v
i g F . D a m m , born in Malmö May 12,1842, who arrived in Ameri¬
ca in April, 1868; N i l s P . L i l j e n g r e n , born in Halland län June 25,
1848. He had arrived in America in June, 1873; G u s t L u n d e l l ,
born in Kopparberg län April 25, 1846, who also had arrived in
1868; Peter O s a n d e r , bom in Undersvik Parish of Gävleborg län
September 7, 1843, who arrived in July, 1869; and F r e d P e t e r s o n ,
born in Kalmar län August 30, 1842, who had arrived in Janu­ary,
1868.
Three of these, Osander, Liljengren, and Peterson, are men­tioned
by Söderström, but he also mentions Beckman and E r ­landsson,
who are absent from the roster. Damm and Lundell
are not mentioned by Söderström.
Statistically the material in the membership roster is of the
greatest interest. Of the 288 names listed, thirteen do not have
the date of admission to S v e n s k a Bröderna. Of the 275 remain­ing
names the breakdown by the year of affiliation is as follows:
1876— 5
1877— 21
1878— 15
1879— 8
1880— 19
1881— 11
1882— 4
225
1883— 59
1884— 31
1885— 26
1886— 31
1887— 39
1888— 6
Total 275
If we look at the origin of the members in Sweden, we find
that of the 288 names, four were born in the United States, and
eight do not have their origin listed. Of the remaining 276 names
the county or län of origin is as follows:
Värmland 44
Älvsborg 41
Kronoberg 36
Jönköping 24
Skaraborg 20
Kristianstad 19
Östergötland 18
Örebro 15
Kopparberg 12
Halland 10
Kalmar 9
Gävleborg 9
Malmöhus 6
Blekinge 4
Södermanland 3
Stockholm 3
Göteborg och Bohus 2
Norrbotten 1
276
The län missing from the list are those of Gotland, Väster­botten,
Västernorrland, Jämtland, Uppsala, and Västmanland.
One would expect a heavy concentration of immigrants from
Värmland, Småland, and Västergötland, and the material proves
this beyond doubt. A total of 174 or approximately 62 per cent
of the members of S v e n s k a Bröderna came from these three
provinces.
According to Söderström, members of the society must have
attained the age of 20 and not be over 45. In studying the roster,
226
we find that the rules have been adhered to with a few excep­tions.
Three were overage: 49, 47, and 46. Three were underage:
two were 19 years old and one lad was 14. The latter must be
an error. His birth year is given as 1869, he arrived in America
in 1882 and became a member the following year at the age of
14! The secretary has doubtlessly entered the wrong year for
his year of birth.
Of the 288 names listed, eighteen do not have the year of
affiliation with S v e n s k a Bröderna. For the remaining 270 names
the median age at the time of joining the society was 28.7 years.
One of the surprising details which came out of analyzing the
material in the membership book was the fact that the interval
of time between arriving in the United States and joining the
society is far longer than expected. Considering that the heavy
emigration to the United States culminated in the 1880s, one
would expect that many of the newcomers would flock to the
Swedish mutual aid societies, where they might find help in
time of need. The contrary is apparent as one studies the time
interval between arrival and affiliation with the society. A
breakdown shows the following:
T i m e I n t e r v a l i n Y e a r s N u m b e r of M e m b e r s
0 5
1 29
2 21
3 32
4 27
5 29
6 22
7 16
8 15
9 11
10 14
11 3
12 5
13 8
14 5
15 4
18 6
17 2
18 3
19 1
227
20
22
24
26
27
28
30
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
Only five of the members enrolled during the year of arrival.
This may have been due to the fact that membership in S v e n s k a
Bröderna was dependent upon steady employment. Many new­comers
did not have jobs until after some time of adjustment in
the city. A total of 160 or 60 per cent joined the society within
six years after arrival. Those with long time intervals, fifteen
of them ranging in time from 16 to 30 years, represent members
born in the United States or brought over to America as infants
or small children.
A word should be said about the dwelling places of the Swed­ish
Brothers. Again making use of the information contained
in the membership roster, we find that the majority of them re­corded
their addresses with the secretary. Of the 288 names,
eighteen have not given information about their abode< Of the
remaining 270, a total of 191 or 70 per cent lived on the south
side or near south side of the loop. Sixty-six or 24.4 per cent
lived on the north side of the downtown area and nine of them
lived on the North East side. Four of them gave their abode as
Shingle Creek, which is near what today is Camden in Minne­apolis,
named for a shingle mill which once operated there. One
of the members lived in what is today Crystal, Minnesota.
It is not until one comes to the end of the register that the
secretary has recorded the trade of each new member. Twenty-four
of the last members have their trades so indicated, of which
seven were carpenters, two were masons, two were grocery
workers, and two were bartenders. This last trade is given in
Swedish American as bartändare. The following trades were
represented by one each: shoemaker, lumberman, laborer, clerk,
quarry foreman, sash and door machinist, barber, painter, mu­sician,
tailor, miller, and printer.
The discovery of the long lost membership roster of S v e n s k a
Bröderna has given us a new perspective on some of the early
228
Swedish immigrants to Minneapolis and their affiliation with a
mutual aid society. This was the group to which they gave their
loyalty and their time. It was from this group that they received
sympathy and economic help in times of adversity. This was
the group which helped forge ties of friendship in times of catas­trophe,
whether in illness or when sudden death struck. Three
of the members of S v e n s k a Bröderna met death during the
twelve year period which the roster covers. C . A . G r a n e l l , born
in Ålem Parish in Kronoberg län on July 20, 1844, died on March
11, 1881, from a head infection. The secretary records this tragic
event in Swedish American jargon: " C . A. Granell Bleve Dödd
den 11th Mars 1881. Hans skjukdom bestog af inflamstean i H u ­vudet."
J . G . S w a n , born in Ryssby in Kronoberg län August
22, 1836, died to the day three years after Granell, also from an
infection in the head. A n d r e w L a r s o n , born in Kalanda (?)
in Värmland län March 1, 1854, died December 10, 1884, by acci­dent
at his place of employment. At all of these tragic events
the Swedish Brothers met to accord their fallen brothers their
last homage of honor and devotion. S v e n s k a Bröderna had ful­filled
its mission.
229

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

All rights held by the Swedish-American Historical Society. No part of this publication, except in the case of brief quotations, may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the editor and, where appropriate, the original author(s). For more information, please email the Society at info@swedishamericanhist.org

THE SWEDISH BROTHERS: A N EXPERIMENT
IN IMMIGRANT MUTUAL AID
NILS WILLIAM OLSSON
The arrival in the new land was for the average immigrant
often a traumatic and confusing experience. Leaving his native
country, which he had seen probably for the last time, cut off
from all social intercourse with the institutions with which he
had grown up, and separated from all of the familiar experiences
by a vast ocean, he must often have reflected adversely on his
status as an immigrant, placed in a new and seemingly hostile
society. In those places in America where he discovered fellow
countrymen, he naturally felt less alone and thus tended to af­filiate
with churches, lodges, societies, and clubs made up of
fellow Swedes. Here he not only heard his native tongue but
he could also fraternize with people, some of whom came from
his home province and, if he were lucky, from his native parish.
These were the people to whom he could turn in times of ad­versity.
Though the Swedish immigrant church was a natural focal
point, where fellow immigrants gathered not only for spiritual
but also social reasons, the church was usually not able to lend
economic assistance to those hit by illness or death. In those
instances where the church could help, and often it did, it re­stricted
its meager resources to its own members. The immi­grants
who did not affiliate with a church had no place to go in
case of need. Thus mutual aid societies sprang up in almost all
Swedish communities throughout the land, beginning with the
earliest settlements. They usually followed a certain pattern. A
group of immigrants got together, decided upon forming an aid
society, set up a dues or fee structure, usually paid by the week,
and then paid out benefits for illness and in the case of death,
payments to the survivor or survivors for funeral expenses.
The earliest mutual benefit society to be organized by Swedish
immigrants, was the Swedish Society of New York ( D e n s v e n -
220
s k a Societén i N e w Y o r k ) , founded February 21, 1836. It is still
functioning as a benevolent society. It was formed by 22 Swedish
immigrants summoned to a meeting in New York by Wilhelm
Scherman, a draughtsman living in the metropolis. In an elo­quent
plea to the assembled Swedes contained in a document
still extant, he told the group of the real need in New York for
an organization among the Swedes to "strengthen the bonds of
friendship, help the new-comers, and aid the indigent."
There had been a real need for the formation of an aid so­ciety.
Just before Christmas in 1835, more precisely December
17, the city of New York had experienced a devastating fire
which had leveled more than 700 stores and countless homes.
Many of New York's Swedes had suffered heavy losses and some
were stranded without roofs over their heads. Thus the clarion
call went out to the many Swedish dwellers of the city to rally
around the good cause, to form a mutual aid society in order to
be prepared should disaster strike again.
During the many years that the Swedish Society has func­tioned
it has rendered aid and assistance to countless country­men.
The society has witnessed how the entire story of Swedish
immigration has unfolded—from the dribble in the 1830s, through
the 1880s, when tens of thousands of Swedes passed through New
York on their way west, to the post World War II period, when
few immigrants came and when Sweden itself had changed from
an emigrant to an immigrant country.1
Several of the Swedish mutual aid societies became national
in scope and some still exist as fraternal organizations, combin­ing
the insurance feature with a cultural program. The best
known are the Vasa Order of America and the International Or­der
of Svithiod, with chapters or lodges in all Swedish centers
in the United States and Canada. The Vasa Order of America
has even returned to Sweden, where two districts, each with
a number of lodges, are furthering the ties of friendship with
the United States.
In many places, however, the mutual aid societies were local
in character, serving the Swedish immigrants of one community.
"Gerhard T. Rooth, "The Swedish Society of New York Celebrates its
125th Anniversary," S w e d i s h P i o n e e r H i s t o r i c a l Q u a r t e r l y , XII (1961),
58-63.
221
Some of these are still functioning as fraternal groups but have
added a heavy emphasis on social activities. In Minneapolis two
of the oldest fraternal groups are still operating—the Norden
Society, established in 1870, has begun its second century of
service. The Norden Society began with a broader spectrum i n ­cluding
all of Scandinavian origin. The Gustavus II Adolphus
Society, founded in 1886 and Swedish in origin, is still going
strong and meets regularly on Friday nights in its own head­quarters
on Lake Street in south Minneapolis. Many of these
local groups, however, have disappeared as the immigration tide
ebbed out and no replacements arrived from Sweden to take
the places of those who died, dropped out, or disappeared.
One of the oldest and at one time the strongest of all the
Swedish societies in Minneapolis was The Swedish Brothers
( S v e n s k a Bröderna), which was organized November 26, 1876,
in the shop belonging to P. Osander, an early Minneapolis settler.
He and nine other men decided that S v e n s k a Bröderna would
become a mutual aid organization linking together the Swedes
of Minneapolis. Several of those present, however, withdrew
their support when they realized the work and sacrifice that
lay ahead, but five men decided to carry on—P. Osander, A . I.
Beckman, E . W. Erlandson, N . P. Liljengren and Fred Petterson.
The society rented a hall at the corner of Washington Avenue
and First Avenue South where they held their meetings for the
first three months, whereupon the society moved to Snider's
Block on Hennepin Avenue and then to Center Block on Nicol­let
Avenue. By 1877 the membership had risen to 25 and in
January of the following year, in 1878, the society was incor­porated
according to the laws of the State of Minnesota.
The early story of S v e n s k a Bröderna has been recorded for
posterity by Alfred Söderström, who in his history of Swedes
in Minneapolis has given us invaluable information, not only
about the society but about all facets of Swedish settlement and
activity in the city. Though the story only goes as far as 1899,
the year Söderström published his book, the account is of suf­ficient
interest to quote from i t : 2
2 Alfred Söderström, M i n n e a p o l i s m i n n e n . K u l t u r h i s t o r i s k a x p l o c k n i ng
från q v a r n s t a d e n v i d M i s s i s s i p p i (Minneapolis, 1899), 277-279.
222
After [the incorporation] the society held its meetings in
Center Block for a period of five years and then moved into
Vanstrum's Block on Hennepin Avenue and Bridge Square,
where the group stayed four years. During this time the idea
was born that the society attempt to procure its own quarters
and the result was that on August 3, 1886, it bought its pres­ent
headquarters, formerly the Chapel of the Mission Friends,
located at the corner of Fourth Street and Eighth Avenue
South, afterwards known as the Hall of the Swedish Broth­ers,
for a sum of $10,000. The down payment, which the
Society raised by donations and loans, was $1,000, but by
means of regular payments the last installment of $1,000 was
paid in August 1897. The society seems to have a bright future
with 300 members and money enough to meet its expenses,
even though the expenses for 1898 were in excess of $3,000.
The Swedish Brothers is the only Swedish society in Minne­apolis
which owns its own building, and which in addition
is free of debt.
The statutes of the society specify that a member must be
20 years old or older but cannot be more than 45 years of
age. The society is divided into three degrees. A brother
can, after having been a member of the first degree, become
a member of the second degree two weeks after having made
application. In order to belong to the third degree, he must
have been a member of the second degree at least two weeks.
Each member who fulfills his duties shall receive, in case
of illness or injury which prevents him from working, the
sum of $3 per week if a member of the first degree, $4 per
week if member of the second degree and $5 per week for
those in the third degree. Benefits are paid as long as the
illness persists, but the maximum benefit is $50 for the first
degree, $75 for the second degree, and $100 for the third de­gree
for one year. At time of death of a member funeral help
will be paid out to the survivors in the amount of $20 for those
in the first degree, $25 to those in the second degree, and $35
to those in the third degree. In case of death of the wife of
a member, $15 goes to the member in the first degree, $20 to
the second degree, and $25 to the third degree. Every member
shall after three months in the first degree be entitled to a
life insurance policy in the amount of $500. It is the duty of
every member to pay into the treasury the amount of $1.50
for the privilege of receiving this life insurance policy.
So far Söderström. We would probably not have known very
much more about S v e n s k a Bröderna, since it is one of the Swed-
223
ish groups in the Twin Cities area which has ceased to exist,
and its records were seemingly lost. But strange things happen.
A couple of years ago the American Swedish Institute was visited
by one of the last members of S v e n s k a Bröderna, who deposited
with the Institute the seal of the society, giving instructions how
members could pass the various degrees within the group. The
survivor of this venerable group was asked if other records ex­isted,
to which he answered in the negative, but six months later
he reappeared, carrying with him a volume which records the
membership roster of S v e n s k a Bröderna from the date of its
organization in 1876 to 1888. The book was a plain accounting
book, 12x71/2 inches, containing 106 pages. This book had been
found among some junk in the garage of the last recording
secretary.
The membership book is extremely valuable, for it gives us
a cross section of the membership during the first twelve years
of the society's existence. It records not only the names of all
members, but also their birth dates, the parishes in Sweden from
which they hailed, the administrative district (län), the year
and date of arrival in the United States, and the date of affilia­tion
with S v e n s k a Bröderna. In most instances the dwelling
place in Minneapolis is recorded and in a few instances the trade
of the member. Where the member was separated from the so­ciety,
the reason is given, if by death, voluntary resignation, or
expulsion for non-payment of dues.
The volume is written in Swedish, with two or three entries
on each page. The writing differs vastly as does the recording
secretary's knowledge of Swedish. One can readily understand,
in studying the record book, that the hand that held the pen
was more adept at handling the trowel or the augur. The only
English that appears is the recorded addresses. Here again
knowledge of the English language differs from hand to hand.
Certain words cause much difficulty for the scribe—thus Wash­ington
Avenue appears, as W a s h i n t o n , W a s e i n t o n , W a s i n t o n and
W a n s h i n g t o n . J e f f e r s o n appears as G e f e r s o n and R i v e r s i d e as
R e v e r s i d . The word "south" is the most troublesome and occurs
in the following forms—sot, s o u t , s o t h , sått, s a u t t , s o u t t , s u u t h,
såott, såutt, sátt and s o h t . From these phonetic spellings it might
224
be possible to trace the original dialect in Sweden of the par­ticular
scribe who recorded these words.
The record book contains a total of 288 names of persons who
joined the society from 1876 to 1888. Of these 284 were born in
Sweden, four in the United States (two in Minneapolis, one in
Chisago County and one in St. Peter, Minnesota). By the time
the volume ends in 1888 a total of 77 had left the society:
46 had been dropped for non-payment of dues; 27 entries are
just crossed out, perhaps indicating that these persons had left
Minneapolis without giving notice; three had died; and one had
left voluntarily by giving notice. Thus there were 211 mem­bers
active in S v e n s k a Bröderna as the 1880s drew to a close.
Söderström's figure of 300 members by 1899 seems therefore ac­curate,
considering that the 1890s were years of expansion for
almost all Swedish American organizations.
Five of the members were recorded at the first meeting, L u d ­v
i g F . D a m m , born in Malmö May 12,1842, who arrived in Ameri¬
ca in April, 1868; N i l s P . L i l j e n g r e n , born in Halland län June 25,
1848. He had arrived in America in June, 1873; G u s t L u n d e l l ,
born in Kopparberg län April 25, 1846, who also had arrived in
1868; Peter O s a n d e r , bom in Undersvik Parish of Gävleborg län
September 7, 1843, who arrived in July, 1869; and F r e d P e t e r s o n ,
born in Kalmar län August 30, 1842, who had arrived in Janu­ary,
1868.
Three of these, Osander, Liljengren, and Peterson, are men­tioned
by Söderström, but he also mentions Beckman and E r ­landsson,
who are absent from the roster. Damm and Lundell
are not mentioned by Söderström.
Statistically the material in the membership roster is of the
greatest interest. Of the 288 names listed, thirteen do not have
the date of admission to S v e n s k a Bröderna. Of the 275 remain­ing
names the breakdown by the year of affiliation is as follows:
1876— 5
1877— 21
1878— 15
1879— 8
1880— 19
1881— 11
1882— 4
225
1883— 59
1884— 31
1885— 26
1886— 31
1887— 39
1888— 6
Total 275
If we look at the origin of the members in Sweden, we find
that of the 288 names, four were born in the United States, and
eight do not have their origin listed. Of the remaining 276 names
the county or län of origin is as follows:
Värmland 44
Älvsborg 41
Kronoberg 36
Jönköping 24
Skaraborg 20
Kristianstad 19
Östergötland 18
Örebro 15
Kopparberg 12
Halland 10
Kalmar 9
Gävleborg 9
Malmöhus 6
Blekinge 4
Södermanland 3
Stockholm 3
Göteborg och Bohus 2
Norrbotten 1
276
The län missing from the list are those of Gotland, Väster­botten,
Västernorrland, Jämtland, Uppsala, and Västmanland.
One would expect a heavy concentration of immigrants from
Värmland, Småland, and Västergötland, and the material proves
this beyond doubt. A total of 174 or approximately 62 per cent
of the members of S v e n s k a Bröderna came from these three
provinces.
According to Söderström, members of the society must have
attained the age of 20 and not be over 45. In studying the roster,
226
we find that the rules have been adhered to with a few excep­tions.
Three were overage: 49, 47, and 46. Three were underage:
two were 19 years old and one lad was 14. The latter must be
an error. His birth year is given as 1869, he arrived in America
in 1882 and became a member the following year at the age of
14! The secretary has doubtlessly entered the wrong year for
his year of birth.
Of the 288 names listed, eighteen do not have the year of
affiliation with S v e n s k a Bröderna. For the remaining 270 names
the median age at the time of joining the society was 28.7 years.
One of the surprising details which came out of analyzing the
material in the membership book was the fact that the interval
of time between arriving in the United States and joining the
society is far longer than expected. Considering that the heavy
emigration to the United States culminated in the 1880s, one
would expect that many of the newcomers would flock to the
Swedish mutual aid societies, where they might find help in
time of need. The contrary is apparent as one studies the time
interval between arrival and affiliation with the society. A
breakdown shows the following:
T i m e I n t e r v a l i n Y e a r s N u m b e r of M e m b e r s
0 5
1 29
2 21
3 32
4 27
5 29
6 22
7 16
8 15
9 11
10 14
11 3
12 5
13 8
14 5
15 4
18 6
17 2
18 3
19 1
227
20
22
24
26
27
28
30
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
Only five of the members enrolled during the year of arrival.
This may have been due to the fact that membership in S v e n s k a
Bröderna was dependent upon steady employment. Many new­comers
did not have jobs until after some time of adjustment in
the city. A total of 160 or 60 per cent joined the society within
six years after arrival. Those with long time intervals, fifteen
of them ranging in time from 16 to 30 years, represent members
born in the United States or brought over to America as infants
or small children.
A word should be said about the dwelling places of the Swed­ish
Brothers. Again making use of the information contained
in the membership roster, we find that the majority of them re­corded
their addresses with the secretary. Of the 288 names,
eighteen have not given information about their abode< Of the
remaining 270, a total of 191 or 70 per cent lived on the south
side or near south side of the loop. Sixty-six or 24.4 per cent
lived on the north side of the downtown area and nine of them
lived on the North East side. Four of them gave their abode as
Shingle Creek, which is near what today is Camden in Minne­apolis,
named for a shingle mill which once operated there. One
of the members lived in what is today Crystal, Minnesota.
It is not until one comes to the end of the register that the
secretary has recorded the trade of each new member. Twenty-four
of the last members have their trades so indicated, of which
seven were carpenters, two were masons, two were grocery
workers, and two were bartenders. This last trade is given in
Swedish American as bartändare. The following trades were
represented by one each: shoemaker, lumberman, laborer, clerk,
quarry foreman, sash and door machinist, barber, painter, mu­sician,
tailor, miller, and printer.
The discovery of the long lost membership roster of S v e n s k a
Bröderna has given us a new perspective on some of the early
228
Swedish immigrants to Minneapolis and their affiliation with a
mutual aid society. This was the group to which they gave their
loyalty and their time. It was from this group that they received
sympathy and economic help in times of adversity. This was
the group which helped forge ties of friendship in times of catas­trophe,
whether in illness or when sudden death struck. Three
of the members of S v e n s k a Bröderna met death during the
twelve year period which the roster covers. C . A . G r a n e l l , born
in Ålem Parish in Kronoberg län on July 20, 1844, died on March
11, 1881, from a head infection. The secretary records this tragic
event in Swedish American jargon: " C . A. Granell Bleve Dödd
den 11th Mars 1881. Hans skjukdom bestog af inflamstean i H u ­vudet."
J . G . S w a n , born in Ryssby in Kronoberg län August
22, 1836, died to the day three years after Granell, also from an
infection in the head. A n d r e w L a r s o n , born in Kalanda (?)
in Värmland län March 1, 1854, died December 10, 1884, by acci­dent
at his place of employment. At all of these tragic events
the Swedish Brothers met to accord their fallen brothers their
last homage of honor and devotion. S v e n s k a Bröderna had ful­filled
its mission.
229